Supreme Court Rules Against Trump’s Emergency Power Tariffs
In a 6-3 opinion, the Court finds that IEEPA does not grant President Trump the authority to levy tariffs.
On Feb. 20, the Supreme Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 statute that provides the president with extensive powers to address national emergencies, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs in Learning Resources et al v. Trump. In 2025, President Trump declared national emergencies related to drug trafficking and trade deficits and argued that IEEPA granted him legal authority to impose tariffs due to those national emergencies.
In a 6-3 opinion, the Court vacated the tariffs and found that Congress did not delegate its tariff powers in IEEPA. “The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion. “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.”
Roberts added, “IEEPA’s grant of authority to ‘regulate . . . importation’ falls short.”
View more Lawfare analysis of IEEPA tariffs here.
And read the opinion here or below:
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